Winter Canola Variety Options from K-State

 

The window for winter canola planting is rapidly approaching, and the time to select varieties is upon us. Over the past few years, the number of releases from the Canola Breeding Program at K-State has increased considerably. These varieties are licensed to seed partners who have a vested interest in growing the canola economy by encouraging rotation with canola to improve the health and profitability of our wheat-based cropping systems. The goal of the K-State Canola Breeding Program is to develop winter canola varieties that are adapted to Kansas and the southern Great Plains. This article describes the most recent releases and provides an update on what to expect from future varieties.  

 

 

CP320 is a Roundup Ready variety that was released in 2017 and is licensed to CROPLAN by WinField United. CP320 has superb winter hardiness, early flowering, early maturity, and short plant height. The yield record of CP320 is excellent; it was the top Roundup Ready variety at four locations in the 2018 Oklahoma State University Variety Performance Tests. CP320 is a Roundup Ready option for most environments across Kansas.

 

Torrington is a conventional variety that was released in 2016 and is licensed to Ohlde Seed Farms in Palmer, Kans. The name Torrington was selected because it is the hometown of Dr. Charlie Rife, former canola breeder at Kansas State University. Dr. Rife’s greatest contribution to canola breeding was the development of winter hardy germplasm. Winter hardiness is a significant benefit of this variety. Torrington has medium maturity and above average oil content. It is an option for planting in the most winter-challenged environments in Kansas and Oklahoma.

 

 

Surefire is a full maturity, conventional SURT variety. SURT varieties have tolerance to sulfonylurea (SU) herbicide residual in the soil. This tolerance allows the variety to be planted following the spring application of a SU herbicide; these herbicides often have long plant-back restrictions for canola. Surefire was released in 2017 and is licensed to Spectrum Crop Development, of Ritzville, WA. Surefire has greater yield potential and later maturity than Sumner, the first SURT variety released in 2003. Surefire possesses the highest level of SU residual tolerance of any commercial variety on the market. Surefire also has excellent tolerance to blackleg.

 

Star 930W is a Roundup Ready variety that was released in 2013 and is licensed to Star Specialty Seed, of Fargo, ND. Star 930W was tested for many years as a K-State experimental line before it was licensed but has been a consistent variety over the years. Star 930W has excellent winter hardiness, early maturity, and medium plant height. 

 

 

HyCLASS225W is a Roundup Ready/SURT variety that was released in 2014 and is licensed to CROPLAN by WinField United. HyCLASS225W has above average winter hardiness, medium maturity, and tall plant height. HyCLASS225W has one of the higher oil contents of the Roundup Ready varieties. 

 

CP4525 (formerly DKW45-25) is a Roundup Ready/SURT variety that was released in 2013 and is now licensed to CROPLAN by WinField United. CP4525 was the first Roundup Ready variety released by the K-State canola breeding program. CP4525 has above average winter hardiness, medium maturity, and good blackleg tolerance.

 

Riley is a conventional variety that was released in 2010 and is licensed to Johnston Seed Company in Enid, Okla. Riley has been on the market for several years and remains a standard bearer for winter survival, oil content, and blackleg tolerance. Riley delivers consistency and confidence to canola producers.

 

The Canola Breeding Program will continue to deliver new varieties to southern Great Plains canola producers and is privileged to work with a large number of licensees and variety testing cooperators. We foresee increased availability of greater yielding and higher oil producing varieties in the future. These varieties will possess superior agronomic suitability, including improved winter survival, blackleg tolerance, and herbicide resistance. The benchmarks we use for measuring successful variety releases include yield that is a 3% increase over competitive checks, winter survival equal to or 5% greater than previous releases, and 40% or greater oil content.